


That Hollow Place

by ImaTastyPorkCutletBowl, SesshomaruFreak, Spunky0ne



Category: Bleach, yuri on ice
Genre: M/M, Renji/Byakuya - Freeform, VictUuri, Victor and Yuuri are hollow vamps!, Yuuri mpreg!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:48:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25119391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaTastyPorkCutletBowl/pseuds/ImaTastyPorkCutletBowl, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SesshomaruFreak/pseuds/SesshomaruFreak, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spunky0ne/pseuds/Spunky0ne
Summary: When Yuuri is attacked as he and Victor stagger back to their hotel, drunk from a date in Karakura Town, Renji convinces Byakuya not to slay the hollowfied skater. Instead, they seek help from Kisuke to try to help Yuuri and Victor before Central 46 can find out and order an execution...
Relationships: Abarai Renji/Kuchiki Byakuya, Ichigo/Kuchiki Tetsuya, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Ukitake Juushirou/Urahara Kisuke
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	1. Die Without You

**Author's Note:**

> This story includes yaoi and mpreg. If that is not your thing, feel free to skip this one. If it is your thing, then dig in. It will be a thrilling ride!

The chill, dark corridor of the precipice world echoed with running footsteps as the taicho and fukutaicho of the sixth division hurried towards the world of the living.

"Hey Taicho?"

The division leader's head turned slightly, swirling the long strands of his raven black hair and his steel grey eyes focused on the tall, red-haired man who followed.

"What is it, Renji?"

The redhead continued to run, his cinnamon colored eyes peering into the darkness ahead of them.

"You seem pretty tense. You've been that way ever since you got back from the taicho's briefing, and your reiatsu's only gotten more intense since the hell butterfly from Sotaicho arrived. What's the deal? Does this mission have something to do with whatever the meeting was about?"

His superior's already frowning lips turned further downward.

"My apologies for not filling you in," Byakuya answered, "but the…"

"Right," Renji agreed, "the hell butterfly arrived and there wasn't time."

"There should be time before we arrive," his leader went on, "and, for the safety of both of us, you need to be aware. You recall that there have been rumors of something causing a number of shinigamis and Rukongai residents to hollowfy."

"I heard about that, yeah," Renji replied, his eyes narrowing.

"At first, it was suspected that someone had perhaps gained access to Aizen Sosuke's preparation files for the war."

"But in the interviews with Aizen in Muken, he denied everything," Renji recalled, "You don't think he was lying, do you?"

"That was my thought, at first," the dark-haired taicho admitted, "but he was under the influence of a powerful truth serum when the interviews were conducted."

"Probably provided by Creepy Kurotsuchi."

Renji flinched at the stern look he received.

"I believe it was Urahara Kisuke who provided the serum."

"So, safer, and slightly less creepy," the redhead mused, "Still pretty dangerous."

"Yes."

The two men slowed and came to a stop, just short of their exit from the corridor and Byakuya turned to face his waiting subordinate.

"In the meeting today," he went on, "Sotaicho related that the second division had been deployed to several locations where there had been attacks. They took along members of Squad Twelve to investigate the attack sites, and they also searched each area carefully, spending time to interview witnesses. The few witnesses left alive were unable to provide much information, however, the second division detected traces of transformative reiatsu present at the site of the attacks. The twelfth confirmed that it was also present on the transformed souls they were forced to kill."

Renji's eyes widened and he felt a little tremor pass through his insides.

"Transformative reiatsu…" he repeated.

Byakuya nodded briefly.

"You are originally from Inuzuri, so you may remember that, many years ago, there was a hollow vamp who attacked residents of a number of the lower villages."

Renji's expression darkened further and his hand slipped down to curve around his blade's handle.

"Yeah," he replied, his voice low and rough, "I remember that."

"Twelfth division forces were able to injure the creature, but the hollow escaped back into Hueco Mundo and has never been sensed since that time."

Renji's eyes looked haunted as they met Byakuya's again, and the sixth division leader studied him more closely.

"Taicho, are you tellin' me that the hollow vamp is back? They found its reiatsu again?" the redhead demanded, his voice shaking.

"I am," Byakuya affirmed, "The results of the tests run by the twelfth division and rerun by Urahara Kisuke have confirmed the presence of the hollow vamp's transformative reiatsu on the bodies of the ones who were attacked over the last several nights…and Renji, there was another attack last night."

"Another?" Renji breathed anxiously, "Not anyone we…?"

"No," Byakuya assured him, "But, this attack did not take place in Soul Society."

"What?"

"It was a human who was attacked and transformed. He, in turn, slaughtered about twenty others."

"Oh my god! That was why you…?"

"It is why I was called to that meeting. The incident caused multiple deaths, and it was of a type that living world people cannot understand or perceive, unless they are talented, as in Kurosaki Ichigo's case. In this case, too, the hollow vamp escaped and her victim was neutralized."

"Just, not before he killed a bunch of other people."

"Because most of the people involved could not even perceive what happened, the responding officers were forced to adjust the survivors' memories."

Renji's face paled at the suggestion and Byakuya's face reflected silent sympathy.

"Must be hell," the redhead concluded, "waking up to someone just being gone and some story planted in your head…"

"Would the truth have been better then?" Byakuya asked quietly, "They are humans, and not able to see us without a gigai. Even in gigais, we would be unable to prove to them that we were telling the truth because we would be talking about more things they could not see or sense."

"Yeah, I get you," Renji capitulated, his teeth nearly clenching at the words, "I just think it sucks, okay?"

"I find it distasteful as well," Byakuya concurred, "This is why we must find this hollow and end the threat to the living world and Soul Society."

"Right," Renji sighed, turning towards their exit point, "I've got you. We need to stop this."

The two started to pass through, then stopped again as a hell butterfly arrived and Kyoraku sotaicho's deep voice emerged from the hovering insect.

" _Byakuya, Renji, the twelfth division has sensed the hollow vamp is entering a corporeal state again for feeding. This hell butterfly will lead you to the location and you must stop it from attacking whatever humans you find there. Keep in mind the Central 46 order for any infected humans._ "

Renji gave his taicho a quizzical look, then he stiffened at what he read in Byakuya's face even before he said the offending words.

"Any infected humans…must be killed."

XXXXXXXXXX

The door to the Velvet Lion Club in Karakura Town slammed open and a silvery-haired young man staggered out with a dark-haired man hanging onto him and stumbling along.

"N-now, which way was the hotel, Yuuri?" Victor drawled drunkenly, "I can't remember."

"When kin y'ever?" Yuuri mumbled into Vic's shoulder, "Righ' past th'park."

"Pasht the park," Victor repeated, "Okay."

He turned his very drunk husband to the right and the two started down the street. Somewhat better at holding his liquor, Victor still had enough awareness to notice the lovely, pale moon up above them, and he turned Yuuri onto the little trail that ran through the park.

"Look at that lovely moon, Yuuri," Victor purred into the Japanese skater's ear, "It's so pretty! Like your jumps tonight. You really earned that first place medal you got. Congratulations again, _solnyshko_."

"Mmmmngh," Yuuri sighed, leaning into Victor's embrace and initiating a long, wet, sake-flavored kiss.

"You really did drink a lot," Victor laughed, "You're going to be sorry for that in the morning. But don't think that being drunk is going to get you out of sleeping with me tonight, Yuuri. You promised me we would have sex at least three times tonight, after the competition. I waited so long for the season to be over."

"Kay," Yuuri chuckled as Victor engaged his mouth in an even more savory kiss as his hands slipped beneath Yuuri's clothes, making both men snicker and kiss more passionately.

Wrapped up in their inebriated kissing, neither noticed the sudden, cold breeze that swept through the park and over them, or the dark figure that tumbled through a black tear in the sky and lumbered towards them.

Yuuri's hand slid down into the front of Victor's pants and began to caress the Russian's already inflamed erection.

"O-oh!" Victor groaned, unable to resist leaning into the other man's touches, "Y-Yuuri, not here. We'll…s-someone will see."

"Let'em. I want'em all t'know Victor is _mine_!"

"I am yours," Victor laughed, gently pulling free of his more drunken partner, "I promise I will not hold back when we get to th'hotel. Let's go now, Yuuri. I'm getting cold."

One moment, Victor was looking at Yuuri's pale face in the moonlight, then an ear-shattering screech sounded right behind him. Victor whirled around, his aqua colored eyes rounding at the sight of a huge, fanged beast whose face was covered with a strange bone mask.

"RUN, YUURI!" he cried out, pushing Yuuri back behind him as he faced the advancing monster.

The monster screeched again and struck out, catching the Russian across the face and the right side of his body and throwing him out of the way. Victor crashed down into the bushes, barely feeling the scratches as his mind plunged into blackness.

The last thing he heard was Katsuki Yuuri's chilling, terrified scream.

When Victor's eyes opened next, his body felt like ice, and he hurt from what felt a like a hundred vicious scratches all over his hands and arms. He groaned unhappily as he lifted himself onto hands and knees and crawled out of the bushes. A pounding ache in his head made him stop for a moment and a low, gurgling sound of agony escaped him. Spurred on by his worry over the fact that he heard nothing from Yuuri, Victor pressed forward, still crawling. He spotted a dark, curled form on the ground ahead of him.

"Y-Yuuri?" he managed, his teeth chattering.

He thought he remembered something about a monster, and he looked around for the scary beast he had seen, only to find the moonlit park empty and silent. Dragging himself to his feet, he swallowed the knot of fear in his throat and staggered towards the collapsed person, calling his husband's name again. He reached the fallen person's side and gave a ragged sigh of relief at recognizing Yuuri's clothes, and that his lover was definitely breathing.

"Oh, thank god!" he said, shivering as he turned Yuuri over, onto his back, "Are you okay, _solnyshko_?"

Victor froze as a strange hissing noise filled his ears, and he noticed swirling, white strands in the air around Yuuri's tormented face. On reflex, he jumped back as Yuuri's hand shot out and grabbed him by the wrist, tightening until he was sure the bones would crack.

"Y-Yuuri, s-stop! That hurts!" he cried, pulling free and stepping back and falling onto the ground again.

The swirling strands around his husband's face thickened and Yuuri's body twitched and began to sit up, looking more like it was being pulled along on puppet strings.

"Yuuri?" Victor called in a shaky voice, his eyes blinking and trying to focus.

He pushed himself onto his knees, staring in dismay at the too pale form in front of him. Yuuri's mouth opened, but only a horrifying screech sounded, one that made Victor's blood run ice-cold.

"Yuuri!" he exclaimed, scrambling towards his staggering mate.

But all at once, he heard a swishing sound and two blindingly bright male forms appeared between Yuuri and him. The taller, a red-haired man, whose lanky body was marked all over with bold, black tattoos, stood facing him, while the other stranger, a paler and coldly handsome dark-haired man, turned to Yuuri.

"Wha-what's going on?" Victor managed, clearly shaken as he stared at the strangely dressed men who had come between them, "Where did you come from and what is happening to Yuuri?"

Though the expression on the redhead's face was fierce, his auburn eyes softened.

"Seems your friend was bitten and fed on by that hollow that attacked you," he answered in a matter-of-fact, but sympathetic tone, "He's...infected. I'm sorry we didn't get here in time."

Confused, Victor replied, "Yuuri's not just my friend, he's my husband."

"Your husband."

Renji suppressed a groan at the silver-haired man's accented words.

_I don't wanna be a part of this…taking away someone's love._

_But…there's no choice._

He started to glance at Byakuya, but another screeching wail came from behind him, and a frightened sob escaped the petrified silver-haired man.

"Y-Yuu-ri!" he called pleadingly.

Renji cringed inwardly at hearing the unmistakable sound of his superior drawing his zanpakuto.

The man at his feet heard it, too, and his ocean-blue eyes widened in reaction.

"No..." he gasped, "No, you can't!"

In a flurry of movement, the man surged to his feet, reaching out for the one who'd been infected.

Renji's arm caught him around the waist and held him back.

"Hey buddy, trust me, you don't wanna do that. Just…stay put, and…you don't wanna look."

"Let go of me!"

"Hey, hold still and don't get in the way!" Renji complained, shifting to get a better grip.

But the man he was restraining was surprisingly strong and flexible, and Renji found himself struggling to hold on.

In the midst of the struggle, Renji glanced over his shoulder.

The sight of the other young man, surrounded by the swirling chaos of transforming hollow energy, struck a profound chord inside him, and suddenly, he was no longer in the World of the Living.

_Renji's eyes burned mercilessly as he raised his arm, Zabimaru in hand and his face was a mask nearly as tortured as the one in front of him._

_"G-god, I'm s-sorry!"._

_As he brought down his blade, an unearthly screech split the air. His own scream joined it as blood exploded around him._

_Zabimaru roared in his head when the zanpakuto sank deep, biting to kill._

Apparently taking advantage of his distraction, the silver-haired man escaped his hold and charged forward, throwing himself between Byakuya and the infected man.

"No! Please don't!"

Renji stared as his superior spoke quietly, Senbonzakura poised to strike.

"Get out of the way or you will die as well."

"Then, you are going to have to kill me," Victor answered, standing his ground, "This man is my life, and I will die before I will lose him!"

"Do you understand?" Byakuya inquired, tension creeping into his voice as Yuuri advanced on them, shrieking again, "I know you are talented enough to see what he has become. He is no longer human. That man is already dead. Do you think he would want you to die too?"

"I told you," Victor answered petulantly, tears running down his face, "I don't care. I'd rather die…"

"You will die either way, you fool, if you do not…!"

Renji startled himself when he spoke out loud.

"Wait, Taicho."

The noble paused, glancing back at him with one steely eye.

"I hope you have a good explanation, Lieutenant."

Renji bit his lip as he stepped in front Byakuya, impulsively grabbing at the smaller Soul Reaper's sword hand in desperation.

"Renji!" Byakuya snapped.

"Taicho, please just wait a sec, ok? The boy is recently infected. We don't _have_ to kill him...we could take him to Kisuke. He can fix this without killing the boy."

Byakuya's dark eyes narrowed in that dangerous way.

"Why are you protecting this boy?"

"Yuuri."

Renji turned to see the silver-haired man staring up at them from where he crouched in front of the one that had been attacked.

"Hi-his name is Yuuri, not 'boy'. What is going on here?"

At that moment, Yuuri screeched again, the ropes of white crawling over his face.

Aqua eyes widened, pleading. The accent became thicker as the young man became more distraught.

"Ok never mind what's going on! Please, just help him! I can't lose him!"

Renji saw Byakuya's lips tighten into a thin line, then the noble snapped at him.

"Act quickly, Abarai. This only gets one chance."

Byakuya watched as his subordinate gave a sharp nod.

"Yes, sir."

The redhead turned and grabbed the silver-haired man.

"What's your name?"

"Vi-Victor."

Renji nodded, speaking quickly.

"Okay, Victor, you and your husband have gotta come with us, like right now. Taicho, can you secure Yuuri with Rikujokoro?"

Byakuya raised his hand and invoked the kido. Instantly, Victor threw himself between the noble and the transforming Yuuri.

"Don't you dare hurt him!" Victor screamed.

"He's not gonna hurt either one of you."

"He has a goddamned _sword_!" Victor shouted.

Yuuri staggered closer, almost within striking distance of his husband.

"Taicho!" Renji gasped.

"I give you my word," Byakuya promised, "I am not going to kill him right now. I am only going to restrain him. Now, move aside, before it is too late!"

Yuuri screamed and slashed at Victor, but in a flash of red and black, Renji swept the silver-haired man aside, holding him tightly as Byakuya lossed the restraining kido and Yuuri froze inside the golden ring that formed.

"L-let go of me! Let me go!"

"Renji," Byakuya said, nodding at his fukutaicho.

"Sorry," the redhead apologized, dropping Victor into his arms with a quick flash of kido.

He threw the silver-haired man over his shoulder as Byakuya collected the incapacitated dark-haired man, looking back at his subordinate.

"This had better be worth the trouble," Byakuya warned him, "We are both now in violation of a Central 46 order. You had better be right about Urahara being able to cure him."

"He will cure him," Renji answered, his sad eyes focusing on Victor's tortured expression, "He has to."


	2. The Monster I Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor wakes up in a strange place and finds that his life with Yuuri may never be the same. His only hopes seem to lie with the shinigamis.

Victor groaned as life began to seep back into his body, and he fully expected to feel the sharp aches and pains of a hangover, but to his surprise, something warm and soothing seemed to be wrapped lightly around his curled body and when he opened his eyes and squinted, he caught sight of dark, messy hair amidst the glow of some kind of light.

"Yuu-ri?" he mumbled, blinking and trying to focus, "Ugh, I feel awful!"

As his vision cleared, his heart sank. He wasn't, as he thought, just back in their hotel room, sleeping off their heavy drinking, but was lying in a soft bed in a completely unfamiliar place, looking up into a kind, angelic face that radiated the same gentle beauty that Yuuri's did. The man even looked about the same age as Yuuri, but had longer, wavy black hair and vibrant sapphire eyes instead of Yuuri's kind brown ones.

"You're not Yuuri," he managed shakily, "Who are you? Where is this place?"

"My name is Tetsuya."

"I don't know you," Victor said, frowning up at him anxiously, "Does Yuuri? You are Japanese?"

"I am Japanese," the young man affirmed, "but I do not know your husband. I am Kuchiki Tetsuya. I am a healer."

Victor looked from Tetsuya's comely face to the notable glow around his hands whose fingertips lightly traced a long scratch on the Russian skater's arm, making it slowly disappear.

"You are…not human," Victor said, no question in his voice, "Humans don't do things like this,"

"Actually, some can," Tetsuya corrected him, using a polite tone, "but you are right in thinking that I am not human. I am a soul…a special kind of soul called a shinigami…a death god."

"A death god," Victor repeated warily, "If you are a god of death, then why are you healing me and not killing me?"

Tetsuya's lips curved into an amused smile that looked so much like one of Yuuri's smiles that it made Victor's heart ache to look at it.

"I know it's confusing," Tetsuya acknowledged, his fingers tracing their way along another jagged cut on Victor's slim arm, "I suppose it's kind of a misleading name, but we were named that because it is our job to guide souls departing the world of the living, so that they reach Soul Society."

"S-Soul Society?" Victor repeated nervously, "What is that?"

"It's not a bad place," Tetsuya answered, "Like your world, it has good and bad things about it, but mostly, it's just where souls are either born pure, without a konpaku, or body, or they arrive from the world of the living, once the person dies and the konpaku is shed."

At his words, Victor's face crumpled and tears filled his ocean colored eyes.

"Th-then it's not a nightmare?" he asked haltingly, "Yuuri is…?"

Tetsuya started to answer, but paused as the door to the guest room opened, and a blonde man wearing a striped hat entered the room, alongside the stern man from the night before, and the tall, lanky redhead who had interfered with his superior trying to kill Yuuri. Behind the redhead was another young man with bright ginger hair. Victor cringed behind Tetsuya, who looked up at the stern, grey-eyed man and smiled.

"Byakuya-sama."

"You're the one who tried to kill Yuuri," Victor said in a wounded tone, his tortured eyes meeting the noble's squarely.

"I assure you that I would have taken no pleasure in harming your husband," Byakuya said solemnly, giving Renji a little, sidewise glance, "but I think you realize that the transformation Yuuri is undergoing, if allowed to continue, would turn him into a monster who would be nothing like the man you know."

"You know nothing about the man Yuuri is," Victor replied angrily, his hands clenching at the bedding, "and you do not know me."

Victor's eyes moved and landed on Renji, whose breath caught slightly at the impact.

" _You_ ," the Russian continued, "I don't know why you interfered and convinced that man not to hurt Yuuri, but…I am grateful to you."

"Don't be grateful to me," Renji said in a low, sad voice, "If Yuuri is going to be saved, it won't be by me. That's why we've brought you here. This is Urahara Kisuke's candy shop."

"You brought us to a candy shop for healing?" Victor mused, giving Renji a confused look, "That makes about as much sense as a death god healing me."

"It's not actually a candy shop really," Renji said impatiently, "You know, he just calls it that and has candy out there so if people have questions about what he's doing here…but that's neither here nor there."

"And it doesn't make much sense," Victor added, looking no less confused, "But I guess I get it. The shop is a front for what? Shingamis? Death gods?"

"Kinda…? But how much do you know about shinigamis?"

"I explained a little about the difference between us," Tetsuya imparted.

"I hope you didn't use any of Rukia's god-awful drawings," the ginger-haired man behind Renji chuckled, "That'd only confuse him more."

"Better not let her hear you say that," Renji warned him.

The orange-haired young man stepped forward, and Victor noticed the instant flush that rose on Tetsuya's face as he moved closer.

"I'm Kurosaki Ichigo," he introduced himself, "I'm actually a human, although I have shinigami powers."

"Like the healing power Tetsuya, here, has?" Victor asked.

"Yeah, kinda…although Tetsuya's abilities are more for healing. He can fight too, but usually, he doesn't like to."

"Fighting?" Victor said thoughtfully, sitting up in the bed, "You are a fighter? What do you fight? Do you fight monsters, like…?"

Victor broke off, shuddering visibly as he remembered.

"Where is Yuuri?" he asked more sharply, "I want to see him. I need to know he's…"

"I think you know that your husband is not, right now, _all right_ , nor anything like it," said the blonde man next to the Byakuya, "I'm Urahara Kisuke, the owner of this shop, and I am a shinigami."

"You are a fighter, like them?" Victor asked.

Kisuke gave him a lopsided grin.

"I'm more of a thinker than a fighter. I'm a damn good scientist. The fighters come to me when they've got a problem they can't solve by fighting. I take a whack at it and see what I can do. I can see why they brought Yuuri to me. He's in a really bad situation. He's been fed on by a very nasty and rare transformative hollow."

"A hollow?"

"Hollows are souls that have not passed on to Soul Society in death. They remain in the world of the living as what you would call, ghosts, and most people can't see or hear them. But these souls that become hollows remain because of some sin or regret that they have…or, like your husband, they have been attacked by a hollow and been made into a hollow. Usually, the human body is shed during the process."

"S-so, Yuuri is going to die?" Victor asked sadly.

"We wanna prevent that, if it's at all possible," Kisuke explained in a gentler voice, "I want you to understand, I am going to do everything within my power, but I can't promise you what will happen."

"Kisuke's the best at working with seemingly impossible problems," Ichigo said, nodding in the shopkeeper's direction, "Your friend is in good hands."

"Please," Victor said more softly, "can I see Yuuri?"

"Yeah," Kisuke affirmed, "He's heavily sedated, so he won't wake, but I have to ask you not to touch the hollow mask that is forming. We've slowed the process, but it's going to take some work to stop the full transformation."

"Are you saying it's just hard to do…or are you saying you have no idea if it can be done?" Victor asked his voice shaking slightly.

"I'm saying that you need to find a way to trust me," Kisuke sighed, "because, right now? I am the only hope that you and Katsuki Yuuri have."

XXXXXXXXXX

Byakuya watched through solemn eyes as Kisuke and Ichigo led Victor out of his room and down the hall to the guest room where Katsuki Yuuri was being restrained. He turned back to speak to his subordinate and quickly realized that Renji had slipped away. Heading through the kitchen and back door, he took a deep breath as he stepped outside, almost unconsciously casting about for that familiar fiery reiatsu.

_‘I don't understand why Renji interfered. And if I'm going to understand, I will need to ask him.’_

He felt a tendril of scarlet energy, and he followed it around the shop to a small garden in the back. Keeping his own energy suppressed, he approached the bed of flowers and spotted Renji sitting among them with his knees pulled up and arms wrapped around his legs, chin resting on his knees.

There was a sadly contemplative look in the auburn eyes, and Byakuya almost turned and left Renji to his thoughts. But he was still curious about the younger man's actions, and the disturbed feel of the reiatsu emanating from the redhead was...concerning.

Slowly, Byakuya moved closer to his subordinate, stepping between the fragile flowers. He was almost on top of Renji before his approach was noticed.

Dark, intense cinnamon eyes rose to him, and Renji's frown faded just a little.

"Hey, Taicho."

Byakuya nodded in response, lowering himself to sit among the flowers at the bigger Soul Reaper's side. After a few moments of silence, he spoke quietly.

"Renji, what happened back there?"

"What do you mean, Taicho?" the redhead asked softly, "You mean in the shop or…?"

"I do not think that you need to ask that question," Byakuya chided him, though not harshly, "That you have insinuates that whatever it is that affected you when you saw that human boy transforming is a private matter."

"Taicho…"

"You do not have to explain to me, however, I would advise you to entrust something of this level of importance to…someone close to you."

Renji felt a strange throbbing in his chest and his lungs seemed to constrict.

_‘I trust…you, Taicho._

_Why can't I say it?_

_He's right here in front of me. What the fuck? Why can't I move? Why can't I say anything? Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!’_

Byakuya rose to his feet in a graceful move, then gently touched the redhead's shoulder before turning back for the shop.

Renji watched his superior walk away, his soul aching as he silently berated himself.

_'Oh gods, I'm such a coward! Why... why didn't I say anything?! He was right there! Gods, what's wrong with me?!'_

A quiet snarl echoed the sentiment inside his skull _._

_'Spineless fool!'_

Renji clenched his jaw when the double-timbered voice joined in his own self-flagellation, and he dug his fingers into his arms as he tightened them around his legs. He bit his lip until he tasted blood, trying to ignore the burning in his eyes.

The sinister hiss that came next did less than nothing for his mood.

_'Your weaknessss makesss usss weak, makesss usss vulnerable!'_

_'I know that, Zabimaru!'_

_'Then why haven't you told him?! Byakuya Kuchiki is many things, but a mind reader he is not.'_

Renji shot to his feet, snapping out loud, "I **know!** "

He stalked away as if he could escape the voices in his skull, when an unearthly scream split the air. Renji froze, head snapping up.

His mind was flooded with images of smiling green eyes, a wonderfully gentle touch, then the terrifying screech that echoed what he'd just heard.

Without thought, he was flashstepping to the shop.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kisuke slowed as he, Ichigo and Victor reached the door to the guest room Yuuri had been placed in, and he set a staying hand on Victor's shoulder. The Russian skater looked back at him quietly.

"I'm gonna just warn you that I've had to sedate your husband, and I've set him in restraints for everyone's safety. The method I've used to slow the transformation also causes unconsciousness, so understand that he isn't going to wake…or…if he does, we're gonna need to act quickly to restrain him again."

"All of this is necessary to stop the transformation?" Victor asked anxiously, glancing warily at the door.

"Oh, it's not gonna stop the transformation. I'm still working on that conundrum. I'm just keeping him as stable as possible while I work out how I'm gonna stop the hollowfication."

"Can't you maybe just make him into a visored?" Ichigo asked, "Like me and Shinji and the others?"

"What is a visored?" Victor asked worriedly, "I've never heard of that. Of course, I've never heard of most of what you people are talking about."

"A visored," Kisuke explained, “is a shinigami who has had the barrier between _shinigami_ and _hollow_ removed. The visoreds are able to use their shinigami powers and they are also able to transform so they can use hollow powers as well."

"You want to make Yuuri one of these shinigamis? A death god?" Victor inquired, "And he will be this _hollow_ as well?"

"Eh…" Kisuke mused, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck, "it's a bit more complicated than that. You see, Yuuri is a human."

"Well, I'm also a human," Ichigo interjected.

"But you are at least part shinigami," the shopkeeper pointed out, "I'm still analyzing Katsuki Yuuri's reiatsu strength. Something that I've learned over the years I've spent living in the human world is that there are actually a lot of humans who are well on their way to becoming shinigamis when they die. And this is especially true in people like Yuuri, who develop strong competitive ability in some arena."

"And that means?" Victor said, giving him a mystified look.

"What it means is that it's very likely that Yuuri has some shinigami ability, and I've been thinking that you might also. I took some samples of Yuuri's blood and reiatsu and I also took some of yours. When I get the results, I'll have a better idea of where we stand."

"So, it is better if we have this kind of ability? Like a shinigami?" Victor asked.

"Well, it will make things easier, and I have to say that the fact that you and Yuuri seemed able to see hollows and us shinigamis, even without a gigai suggests you do have shingami ability."

"A…gigai?"

"It's a body that we shinigamis use in the world of the living, so that regular humans can see and hear us. Otherwise, it would be impossible for us to interact. Only people with some shinigami ability can do that, so we just need to determine the level of ability and we can go from there. The hitch is that, unlike Ichigo, Yuuri has two human parents. Ichigo's father is a shinigami and his mom was a special kind of human , called a quincy."

"This is all making me feel kind of dizzy," Victor complained, "Death gods? Hollows? Healers who make light around their hands. I don't think I believe in any of this!"

"Well, whether you believe in it or not, this stuff is real, and your husband is in very real trouble. You see, even if Yuuri has shinigami ability, he is still very much human, and the hollowfication is destructive to his human body. Ichigo, you know that when you hollowfy, you do it from a shinigami form. Yuuri isn't able to take that form. I'm going to have to get inventive. Now, I've made it possible for Ichigo's human friends to visit Soul Society, and I've used a gigai to make a shinigami able to take on a human form for many years, so this is not completely out of the realm of possibility."

"But," Victor said in a low, distressed voice, his accent thickening with the strength of his emotions, "you are telling me, aren't you, that even if he recovers from this, Yuuri is not going to be the same?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you," Kisuke confirmed, "I'm gonna do my best to make sure that he is able to return to his life and live it out here in the world of the living, but there is a possibility that Yuuri may die and move on to Soul Society."

"But hey," Ichigo said bracingly, placing a hand on Victor's arm and meeting the Russian's worried eyes, "Kisuke is the best at what he does. I can assure you that he's going to find a way to save Yuuri. You can trust him, Victor."

"Well…it seems like I don't really have a choice," Victor reasoned, "but I will cooperate the best that I can. Just, please, you have to save Yuuri!"

"I will do everything I can," Kisuke promised, opening the door, "Now, why don't you go in and sit with him for awhile, okay?"

Victor nodded silently and passed through the open door. Ichigo took his leave of the two of them and Kisuke followed the Russian into the room. He hung back near the door as Victor approached the bed in the room on shaky legs, his blue-green eyes sad and longing. He sat down beside the bed and slipped a hand into his husband's, feeling a little chill at the wisps of hollow bone that swirled around Yuuri's calm sleeping face. And as the shopkeeper had suggested, part of the hollow mask had formed and covered one of Yuuri's closed eyes.

"Yuuri," Victor said softly, squeezing his husband's hand, "I'm right here. I'm going to stay with you, and these people have promised to help you. You must stay strong and do what this man, Kisuke, tells you."

Victor started to say more, but he stiffened and stopped as Yuuri's lips moved and a hissing whisper sounded.

"V-vitya…"

Victor's eyes filled instantly with tears.

"Yuuri…"

A feeling of dread filled his insides as Yuuri's eyes flew open suddenly, and shock flooded his face as the Japanese skater gave an echoing scream and began to struggle against the heavy restraints. One hand broke free and grabbed at Victor's vulnerable throat as the Russian stood up fast, knocking his chair over as he barely escaped his husband's grasping hand.

"Whoa!" Kisuke gasped, hurrying forward.

"I thought that you said that he was restrained!" Victor exclaimed, "He doesn't look very restrained to me!"

Kisuke reached Yuuri's side and sent a heavy shock through his body that plunged him back into unconsciousness. Victor cringed at just seeing, and he dropped back into the chair beside the bed, his heart pounding.

"Sorry," the shopkeeper apologized, "He seems to be stronger than I gave him credit for. I've adjusted his bonds, so it's safe for you to remain here, but I'm gonna have Tetsuya come in and monitor while you're here."

Victor nodded wordlessly, then he turned his attention back to his unconscious lover.

"Yuuri," he said softly, "You have to be all right. Please, _solnyshko_ , you can't leave me!"


End file.
